The Guardian: Residents and cinephiles in the US city of Wichita, Kansas, are up in arms over comments made to the Guardian by actor Johnny Depp about their supposed inability to appreciate "intelligent" films.
Speaking in advance of the UK release of his new film The Rum Diary - which Depp produced as well as acted in - Depp suggested the film will have a hard time in the US away from the major urban centres. "I believe that this film, regardless of what it makes in, you know, Wichita, Kansas, this week - which is probably about $13 - it doesn't make any difference ... I think it's an intelligent film ... And a lot of times, outside the big cities in the States, they don't want that."
But his off-the-cuff citing of Wichita - the largest city in Kansas, with a population of 380,000 - has raised hackles.
A blog on the Wichita Eagle website by the paper's business columnist, Carrie Rengers, quotes numerous locals involved in the film industry expressing their disapproval. Cinema owner Bill Warren, who operates a string of theatres in Kansas and neighbouring Oklahoma, said: "That's just sour grapes. Last time I heard, it didn't do well in New York, either ... It wasn't a very entertaining movie, period." |
